A regional investment strategy

Further to the article on the Mozambique-Mauritius-Madagascar Growth Triangle that explores the trade potential of an effective regional strategy consistent  with our economic  strategy, this article tries to point out  to the need to give substance to our goal of gradually moving the economy’s centre of gravity towards services and positioning the country as a leading provider of business and financial services for the region.

NESC: Institution of conflict management?

In the context of the recent Annual Summit of the National Economic and Social Council, it is fitting to review its role and functions as the country faces the end of the growth cycle based on trade preferences and develops a new socio-economic model driven by openness and global competitiveness. -A new socio-economic model, that is arduously progressively, and at times painfully built,  around  a crucial set of macroeconomic and sectoral reforms and with the participation and support of all social and economic partners to break free of the strangling embrace of economic dependency .

A leftist turn ?

Now that the dust is allowed to settle after days of intensive heckling and the media barrage that has been focussed on the demand for land and for new energy deals from the  MSPA, we will have clearer idea where the government stands on reforms that the country badly needs.  Is the recent aggressiveness of one of the two camps - the “gradualists-leftists” as opposed to the “ neo-liberals”- just a populist showcase or is it that the political pendulum has started to swing to the left -a genuine effort towards a leftist turn in the  reform programme.? 

Moody’s Current Credit Ratings: Is Mauritius “fully fit” for an upgrade ?

Moody’s Investors Service was with us again this week busy taking a closer look at some of our main macroeconomic and financial indicators before making a final decision on whether or not to downgrade us in their rating. On 8 August 2007, Moody’s Investors Service put the Baa1 for a local currency (stable outlook) issue and Baa2 (negative outlook) for a foreign currency loan on review for a possible downgrade because of the increased risk to the size and maturity structure of the government debt as a result of rising domestic interest rates.

Opening the Pandora’s Box

In the last edition of this newspaper, the topic of the day – “MAAS: Solidarity or Greed?; The Land Imbroglio; Sugar Industry: Sectoral interests v/s national interest; Land Monopoly; and 50% in the sugar industry” -- has spread all over the place marginalizing to some extent the equally emotionally loaded subject “De la femme coolie a la femme de tête” of the talented  Shakuntala Boolell. Surprisingly a related issue -- the successful historical mobilization of Creoles by the Federation des Creoles Mauriciens, led by Père Jocelyn Grégoire -- was blatantly ignored, but these seemingly unrelated developments have a common thread.

The framework of Monetary Policy

In the context of the memorial lectures at the Bank of Mauritius (BOM) this week and the launching of monetary policy challenge and financial literacy program, I thought fit to try my hand at something slightly more academic and also to clear out some of the inconsistencies that have appeared in the analysis and comments of the few, that just because they are constantly in the spotlight, who believe that they can get away with their outdated simplistic Monetarist/Keynesian dichotomy.

A need for thinkers

Let me first of all give you a glimpse of the travails of my friend, Papy, one of those top foreign graduates imbued with the zeal to set their mark at an early stage in their career. I still recall that the last time he was given the assignment of drafting a speech for his Boss, it surprisingly received an unexpected forward thrust, without the customary tiring hurdles and the maze of hierarchical hiccups, before landing promptly on his boss’s desk.

Poverty: Stand up and Speak Out

“The curse of poverty has no justification in our age…. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty."- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Poverty Alleviation – a community-based participatory approach

Mauritius growth performance has brought significant welfare gains to the population. Yet a small but significant proportion seem to be benefiting the least from the economic and social progress and many pockets of poverty of worrisome magnitude in some suburban and coastal regions have surfaced.

Performance Budgeting for Better Economic Management.

Government is committed to a comprehensive and ambitious structural reform program covering fiscal consolidation, public sector management, labor market regulation, investment promotion, economic opening and democratization and environment sustainability. One of the pillars of the reform programme is  fiscal consolidation and public sector efficiency.

The Productivity Challenge

 The show is on; the same people, the same faces that you usually come across in those select private-public sector committees, the chosen all-knowing and lofty few that have made it a habit to lord over the wayward Mauritians, have now concocted a new version of the same old productivity issue.  Another Productivity Consultant that will spawn another of those high-flying terms like “Gamba Kaizen” or “Muda”.   So what if it is the umpteenth catchy expression from another umpteenth consultant on productivity and competitiveness !!! 

Sustainability of the Growth momentum

We are gradually recovering, more robustly than expected, from the triple trade shocks or the terms of trade shocks that dipped the national income by around 4-5% cumulatively since 2003. After a reasonable economic performance of a real GDP growth rate of 5 % in 2006, the country is looking forward to another year of growth of about 5.3 % powered mostly by the EPZ (6%) and the tourism sectors (7.5%).

Booms and Cycles Revisited

Booms

The business or economic cycle is the periodic but irregular up-and-down movements in economic activity and other macroeconomic variables. The cycle involves shifts over time between periods of relatively rapid growth of output (recovery and prosperity), alternating with periods of relative stagnation or decline (contraction or recession). These fluctuations are measured using the real gross domestic product. Traditional business cycles undergo four stages: expansion, boom, contraction, and recession

Democratisation of the tourism sector: Another approach

After several years of slow growth, international tourism is on the rebound. The return of both consumer and business confidence is bringing favourable conditions for both established and emerging tourism markets. And Mauritius, battered to some extent by the worldwide slump of 2001 and the impact of high oil prices on the airline industry in 2003-2004, is coming out stronger by repositioning itself with a new branding and a more aggressive air access and marketing strategy.

The new mantra of anti-liberalisation: Un attrape- nigaud!!!

The mantra of the day was trade liberalisation. Trade liberalisation became the symbols of economic progress after years of inward looking, import substitution policies supported by exchange controls. We were told that economic analysis has found repeatedly that it meant efficiency gains through improved resource allocation to expanding export sectors, heightened competition as a spur to achieve world standards of efficiency, wider options for consumers, ability to tap international capital markets and greater exposure to new ideas, technologies and products.

The MAU-MOZ-MAD Growth Triangle

Some 13 000 hectares of land in Madagascar are being put at the disposal of Mauritian entrepreneurs and it seems to be a non-event;  we are still stuck up with the nasty hangover from the 2000 hectares tussle that continue to inflame passions and cut loose not only the Dultamans but  also more sober ones from their moorings ;